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June 2025 fine-art market intelligence

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Fine art

artemisia gentileschi record nga acquisition

codex.vasari.art

Artemisia Gentileschi self-portrait sold for $5.69 million at Christie’s New York, setting a new auction record for the artist. The painting is Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, one of five self-portraits by Gentileschi, and likely the earliest, painted around age 20 in Florence, exceeding its $2.5–$3.5 million presale estimate. On the same day, the National Gallery of Art announced its acquisition of Gentileschi’s Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy (ca. 1625), funded by a gift from Nina J. Cohen and the Patrons’ Permanent Fund.

Fine art

Looted and restituted: Matisse, Paul Rosenberg, and the Art Institute of Chicago

artic.edu

The article discusses Henri Matisse's 1939 work Daisies, its sale to Parisian dealer Paul Rosenberg, and the painting's fate during WWII as it became entangled with Nazi looting. It mentions Rosenberg's gallery and its connections to major artists, including Matisse, and notes that the Art Institute of Chicago purchased from Rosenberg in 1924.

Fine art

Design & American Avant-Garde: The James D. Zellerbach Residence by Frances Elkins totals $23.6 million

press.christies.com

The Christie’s sale results for Design and the single-owner sale American Avant-Garde: The James D. Zellerbach Residence by Frances Elkins totaled $23.6 million. The top lot was The Goddard Memorial Window by Tiffany Studios, which realized $4,285,000; other highlights included Claude Lalanne pieces and Éléphanteau armchairs by Jean Royère.

Fine art

A £2.5m dud? Fresh doubt cast on authenticity of National Gallery Rubens

inkl.com

The article discusses doubts about the attribution of Samson and Delilah, a Rubens painting at the National Gallery in London purchased in 1980 for £2.5m. Rubens attribution is questioned by scholars Katarzyna Krzyżagórska-Pisarek and Christopher Wright, with critics calling the work “highly problematic” and “not a 17th-century picture.” ArtWatch UK’s Michael Daley is cited alleging extensive evidence against the attribution.

Fine art

Bob Rennie donates $22.8 million in art to the National Gallery of Canada

vancouversun.com

Bob Rennie and his family donated 61 artworks valued at $22.8 million to the National Gallery of Canada. The trove includes works by Rodney Graham (40), Ai Weiwei (three), Mona Hatoum (10), Yinka Shonibare (one large installation), and Dan Graham (three), among others.

Fine art

Cause for cheer at Art Basel as strong preview-day sales take many galleries by surprise

theartnewspaper.com

The Art Newspaper reports solid sales on Art Basel's preview day, with dealers noting strength despite geopolitical and economic concerns. Notable sales included Ruth Asawa's 1955 hanging sculpture for $9.5 million at David Zwirner, and works by Georg Baselitz, Maurizio Cattelan, Rachel Feinstein, Nan Goldin, Damien Hirst, Jamian Juliano-Villani, and Ewa Juszkiewicz at Gagosian, with prices ranging from $30,000 to over $5 million; Gehard Baselitz’s oil painting Hier jetzt hell, dort dunkel dunkel sold for €1.8 million and James Rosenquist’s Playmate for $1.8 million to a European institution, among others.

Fine art

Romania secures long-term hold on stolen El Greco painting

artnews.com

El Greco Saint Sebastian (1610–1614) was pulled from Christie’s New York Old Masters sale after Romania claimed it was unlawfully taken from its collection. Romania has secured a long-term hold on the painting at Christie’s New York while legal proceedings in Paris continue; the work’s ownership is linked to Dmitry Rybolovlev and a prior acquisition through Yves Bouvier, with provenance records disputed.

Fine art

El Greco belonging to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev in legal restitution fight

artlyst.com

El Greco Saint Sebastian (c. 1610-14) is at the center of a legal dispute as Romania seeks restitution for the painting. Dmitry Rybolovlev reportedly acquired the work in 2010 via an offshore shell company, while Christie’s initially listed it as transferred to the exiled king in 1947 with government consent; Romania disputes that provenance. The case involves Romania’s government and Nixon Peabody, with past associations to galleries like Wildenstein & Co.

Fine art

Gentileschi’s Lucretia sets new record in Paris

pocketmags.com

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Lucretia, previously in a private collection for over 40 years, set a new artist record at a Paris auction. The article notes also Orazio Gentileschi’s Finding of Moses and mentions the National Gallery’s funding target.

Fine art

Sotheby’s London summer sale brings in about 84 million dollars

artnews.com

Sotheby’s 48-lot summer evening sale in London brought in approximately £62.5 million ($84 million) with a sell-through rate of 83 percent; five works sold for over £5 million, including Tamara de Lempicka’s La Belle Rafaëla (1927) at £7.4 million and Pablo Picasso’s Nu assis dans un fauteui.

Fine art

Lempicka’s sensuous portrait of her lover tops Sotheby’s sale at $10 million

news.artnet.com

Tamara de Lempicka’s La Belle Rafaëla (1927) sold for £7.47 million ($10.05 million) at Sotheby’s London Modern and Contemporary Evening Sale. The article notes this makes it among the top sales for Lempicka, and mentions that Portrait de Marjorie Ferry (1932) sold for $21.2 million at Christie’s London in 2020.

Fine art

Picasso, Richter and Hockney achieve top sums at Art Basel Switzerland 2026

codex.vasari.art

Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter and David Hockney led top sales at Art Basel Switzerland 2026, with Picasso's Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage selling for $35 million, Richter's Abstraktes Bild (940-7) (2015) for $20 million, and Hockney's Studio Interior #2 (2014) for $8.5 million. The event featured 290 galleries from 43 countries and drew representatives from over 270 museums and foundations.

Fine art

Three ormolu masterpieces of outstanding provenance: ‘among the greatest achievements in French decorative arts’

Christie’s

An extraordinary group of ormolu-mounted treasures — a tazza, a ewer and a monumental vase — all formerly in royal or aristocratic collections, are offered in London on 1 July

Fine art

75 Years of New Contemporaries — celebrating ‘a vital platform for risk-taking and experimentation’

Christie’s

A selling exhibition in London celebrates the founding of the annual showcase for emerging talent back in 1949. Featuring works donated by leading figures such as Michael Craig-Martin, Tracey Emin, Jadé Fadojutimi and Maggi Hambling, it will raise funds to support tomorrow’s artists

Fine art

Storm King Art Center unveils extensive renovation, new landscapes for sculpture and more

Christie’s

Following a $53M expansion, the beloved outdoor museum in New York’s Hudson Valley welcomes new commissions by Kevin Beasley, Sonia Gomes and Dionne Lee, as well as works by Ellsworth Kelly and a dedicated conservation building

Fine art

A museum with no front door: Malba—Puertos puts contemporary Latin American art ‘in touch with nature’

Christie’s

The new museum from renowned Argentine collector and Malba founder Eduardo F. Costantini brings new cultural offerings outside the city of Buenos Aires and invites visitors to become active participants

Fine art

‘The very essence of figuration in African sculpture’: works from the collection of Hilde and Dieter Scharf

Christie’s

In the final decade of his life, Dieter Scharf — scion of one of Germany’s great collecting dynasties — filled his Hamburg villa with exceptional sub-Saharan sculpture. Fifty of these works, strikingly diverse and boasting exceptional provenance, are offered in Paris on 16 June

Fine art

Jean-Michel Basquiat Leads Phillips’ Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale

Phillips

Christie’s examines JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT LEADS PHILLIPS’ MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART: EVENING & DAY SALE and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

The legacy of Madame Simone Steinitz: ‘Everything about her was chic’

Christie’s

Benjamin Steinitz, director of the Paris antiques business synonymous with le goût Steinitz, recalls the ‘fabulously elegant’ style of his mother — a legendary tastemaker with an unerring eye for the very best — and presents some of the 130 lots offered from the family’s collection in June, with a focus on the 18th century

Fine art

In the Frame: Refik Anadol

Christie’s

The digital artist speaks about his wide-ranging inspirations, from architecture to navigating the natural world with AI

Fine art

Phillips' Damien Hirst and Evening & Day Editions Auctions Achieve a Combined Total of £2.9 Million and 14 Auction Records

Phillips

Christie’s examines PHILLIPS' DAMIEN HIRST AND EVENING & DAY EDITIONS AUCTIONS ACHIEVE A COMBINED TOTAL OF £2.9 MILLION AND 14 AUCTION RECORDS and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.

Fine art

Jan Davidsz. de Heem and the invention of the pronkstilleven

Christie’s

In the Netherlands in the 17th century, the pronkstilleven — a huge, sumptuous still life — was the ultimate badge of wealth and status, and no one made them better than de Heem. One of his finest works, depicting all manner of fruit, pewter, crayfish and shrimps, is offered in our Old Masters Evening Sale on 1 July

Fine Art

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